“George Washington: Anguish and Farewell (1793-1799)” is the fourth and final volume in James Thomas Flexner’s detailed and captivating study of the life of our nation’s first President. This volume explores the last years of Washington’s life, from the earliest days of his second term as President to his death at Mt. Vernon. The book also marks the end of a 12 year journey by Flexner to portray the “real” George Washington who he felt had been limited by legend to being a rigid, stoic hero – a robotic figure sent by Providence to mechanically build a new nation.

In his effort to show Washington as a wonderfully colorful character full of the same ambitions and failings as many of us, Flexner succeeded brilliantly. While his series was still a work-in-progress, he was apparently often asked what he hoped to accomplish by writing “yet another” book on Washington. Though his completed series on Washington makes that question seem a bit obtuse, it had been widely believed that little remained to be discovered of…

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